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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. rush — hurry
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. clip — to cut
  10. kid — child
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. race — a contest
  16. cell — a phone
  17. craft — boats
  18. cold — an illness
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — of water
  22. craft — a skill
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — for paper

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com